All bets are on!

Dotsmam I have never been made to feel that I am "the scum of the earth". nor do I think of my self as "the scum of the earth"

No mcem whatever is said a Scottish vote is no different to my vote in the South of England. Don't forget you are up against a Tory press who are opposed to anything left of Genghis Khan, so ignore all that and enjoy being part of the great UK!!!!

Scots not necessarily persuaded by the Better Together campaign -just plain clear sightedness re the economy. Head over heart!

Well, I suppose Ed M feels a coalition with Plaid would make it difficult to refuse one with the SNP, perhaps he thinks it would set a precedent. It could, however, be the extra seat or two that would make the difference between him forming a government (if that is how it pans out) or not. Difficult one.

Definitely all about votes! Promises today and God help you tomorrow! The short termism of politics is so damaging to long term prospects. Candidates lurch from one election to another only.

With you there Dotsmam.
Contrary to popular belief a second referendum is not first priority.
A progressive, left-of-centre, anti-austerity party is a perfectly viable alternative to what's been on offer until now.
I really believe that a strong SNP voice in Westminster will benefit the whole of the UK.
So significant numbers of Scots voted to stay in the UK, persuaded by the Better Together campaign. Are they now to be told to shut up and put up, Westminster doesn't want to know after all?

SNP are scaring people because they are told to be scared, but reading some stuff today it seems that the SNP will not have the clout that is suggested that they will. So really the scare tactics is all about votes and nothing about politics.

Well I suppose she is a woman- I am pretty sure that is where the similarities end! Tegen wanting independence has nothing to do with the English, it is a country wanting to put its fate into the hands of its people. At no point was any anti English sentiment expressed by the yes campaign. And as a wee aside the UK is not England but Scotland,Wales and northern Ireland as well. Why is the SNP scaring people in England? Surely racist ukip are much scarier than a socially responsible party.

rosequartz, I heard earlier Milliband has ruled out a coalition with Plaid and Leanne isn't a happy bunny, haven't heard it confirmed yet. I would be surprised if Plaid took another seat , not surprised if they lost one

As I understand from some with a vote in Scotland, they voted No in the referendum, but will vote SNP so that Scotland gets a say in Westminster. As Dotsmam outlines.

Maybe an understanding of Scottish and Welsh political history may help.
I'm not for getting into a heated debate, so good evening one and all. x

Oh dear Dotsmam you are not the scum of the earth and I haven't heard anyone say that in my hearing, even if Nicola Sturgeon is scaring a lot of people in England.

I read an article the other day where she was likened to Maggie Thatcher - diametrically opposed politics, of course, but so similar in so many ways!!

We are better together. The anti Scottish feeling is a legacy of the ill feeling around the neverendum. Still waiting to hear Scottish economic policy.

Maybe a lot of people in England felt that Scotland wanting to leave the UK was anti English and were quite hurt by it also .

Where do you draw the line with England only issues? If you spend millions on a Thatcher museum in England and it comes from the UK budget do we get to vote? Super fast train lines do not help us in any way but the money comes out of uk funds......... Westminster was desperate to keep us and now we are the scum of the earth who should be seen and not heard. All I seem to hear is racist anti Scottish project fear. I thought we were supposed to be "better together"

I agree with you again Anniebach (don't faint) that Plaid will not support the Tories; would they go into coalition with Labour at Westminster as they have done in the Assembly or on a vote by vote basis? Have they said? I am losing track.

The Libdems are unlikely to go in coalition with the Tories again
djen have they said that?; I thought the expression was 'The heart of the Tories, the brains of Labour' which would imply to me that they could go either way (as long as they are in power!)

gillybob Can you imagine an Ed n' Dave "love in"?
In the rose garden we hope!

I am fed up now.
I agree with Anniebach, perhaps another election fairly soon as there may well be a hung parliament.

It really is interesting isn't it? All the possible combinations but I keep thinking about 1992. I lost a bet then and it cost me a lot of money ( I haven't been allowed to bet on GE results since . Re NI - at last election there were 8 DUP ( will support Cons as they did John Major). 3 SDLP ( will support Labour) Sinn Fein 5 ( don't turn up) Alliance 1 ( I would guess will support Labour). Re the vexed English votes question , it really is far more complicated than we are being led to believe. Scotland, Wales, NI and London all have devolved powers of one kind or another so all that would have to be sorted out - not just Scotland. Also, there would be many examples where it would not be clear whether an issue was just purely English or not

Just out of interest for the Tories to win an outright majority they need a swing of 11.1% for Labour to win they need a swing of 4.9%. Don't ask me about the maths I haven't a clue!

Whitewave

Thank you. All will be revealed soon won't it.

pogs re your reply to me 12.10pm regarding to Miliband's tactics re Scotland. I have been reading some of the stuff that dj has been posting and now I agree with what you are saying.
However where we may disagree is the level of leaverage the SNP have, I am now convinced that it will not be so much as has been indicated in the press.

The SNP are not popular where my brother lives either, although to listen to Nicola Sturgeon you would think that all of Scotland is with her. Also, although there are no Tory MPs in Scotland, there are many Tory voters, one of the vagaries of the first past the post system, so I would think that her ranting about getting the Tory govt out at any price is a risky strategy. I know that we dont hear every speech from every politician, but I have yet to hear anyone of any of the other parties ask Ms Sturgeon how the SNP plan on squaring the circle. i.e. all of their spending plans, no more austerity etc when the price of crude oil, although rising a little, has almost halved since their calculations at the time of independence referendum. Alex Salmond was basing his predictions of success on $117 per barrel and it is now around the $50 mark, and there are redundancies in the industry.

Can't we just do what the SNP are planning to do and that is to keep having votes until the correct result is obtained ? Because losing no longer means losing [does it?]. I can't quite believe that we're not thinking about which party will win, but which minority party will pull the strings .

j52 re 'word on the street' in Scotland - pro or con SNP-depends on the street you're in! They're certainly not popular round our area! Plenty of people extremely unimpressed by their record so far after 7 years in charge at Holyrood. Its independence or bust for them and think of how to plug the £7.6 billion gap later!

Ah, a sweepstake (ref durhamjen).....that's one of the very few things I miss now that I'm retired. Even if I did always pull out the no-hoper.

Good post POGS. I think a lot of people in Britain will believe Miliband means there will be no deals at all with the SNP, when it would not be that at all.He may form a minority government, but would then have to fight every day in Parliament to get things supported by the SNP, and if they chose not to on something important, could bring the Government down.What a recipe for disaster!